JOLIET, Ill. – Fueled behind
Abbey McNally's 22 points, the Knights finished off the annual Catholic Classic with a forty-point win, beating Saint Francis (Ill.) 95-55 Saturday afternoon. Following their win, Marian advances their record to 4-1 on the season.
Ella Collier started off the game with a 3-pointer to put the Knights in the lead. After a layup by
Abbey McNally, the Knights found themselves in a scoring drought. St. Francis took their first and only lead of the game with 6:23 left to play. The Knights reclaimed the lead a little over a minute later as
Allison Bosse found Collier to make the score 7-6. Marian went on a scoring spree to end the first quarter adding 14 points, while holding the Saints to an additional seven points, ending the quarter at 21-13.
After a strong start to the game,
Aliyah Evans got things moving for the Knights to start off the second quarter with a layup off the hands of
Tamia Perryman. St. Francis answered with a three but that did not stop Perryman from returning the favor with an and one. The two teams traded buckets for the next few minutes with Marian maintaining the lead.
Josie Trabel and
Kinnidy Garrard combined for the next 12 points to boost the Knight's lead to 48-23. The Saints added five more points before the end of the half, with Collier putting an end to their streak with a jumper assisted by
Jayla Wehner.
Marian continued to build upon their lead after back-to-back buckets from McNally extended their lead to 29 with 6:30 to play in quarter three. A three-pointer and free throw from the Saints ended the run, but the Knights kept their foot on the gas as they erupted for an 11-0 spurt that was capped off by a Bosse triple. St. Francis tried to shift the momentum in the final minutes of the quarter, but it was Marian holding the 77-39 advantage going into the final quarter of play.
Kiley McNally fueled the Marian offense to begin the fourth quarter with four straight points, before
Eva Fisher scored a pair of baskets and Oliva Faust canned the three ball to put the Knights on top by 38. St. Francis continued their fight, but the deficit was too much to overcome as Fisher and
Esther Sevilla scored the final points for Marian to top off a 95-55 victory.
McNally ended a perfect 10-10 from the field, scoring 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and one steal. Collier, Bosse, and Perryman also reach double digits for the Knights scorings, 17, 10, and 10 respectively. Wehner delivered a game-high five assists with two steals.
Marian will be back in action Wednesday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m. in Bourbonnais, IL to face Olivet Nazarene University before their conference-opener on Saturday.
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